The Right Time to Rebrand
When it comes to rebranding, there can be big risks and big rewards — and timing is everything.
The value of listening to your clients
It's more than just nodding your head and waiting for your turn.
Why are we so unreliable?
Unreturned phone calls, missed appointments, over-promising and under-delivering … it’s time to fight back and set an example.
10 marketing watchwords
When was the last time you took a look at how you are marketing your company and the products and services you sell?
Creativity — today’s marketing edge
If your brainstorming directive is nothing more than ‘think outside the box,’ take a look at these 20 tips to really get the creative juices flowing.
Tips of the trade show
A lot of time and money goes into exhibiting at trade shows, so make the most of them by following a few simple rules.
Message integration is child’s play
Even the greatest products can languish on the shelf if your sales and marketing teams aren’t in sync.
Selling so you can sleep at night
If you’re aiming to get the sale no matter what, someone or something’s going to get hurt in the process. Don’t be surprised if it’s your reputation.
Let them see right through you
Love them or hate them, transparency and authenticity are becoming pillars of a successful branding strategy.
Unleash your inner genius
Whatever you sell, there is a way you can reach your target audience by educating them and demonstrating your personal, or your business’s, expertise.
Real letters (yes, snail mail) can work
Want to warm up your next round of cold calls? Want to stand out from the spam? Get reacquainted with an old friend — a finely tuned sales letter.
20 tips to increase sales
Someone recently asked me, “Mike, you’ve been selling all your life. Tell me, what’s the secret to becoming a top performer?”
Unforgettable Sales Presentations
A sales presentation can be anything from a one-on-one pitch to a full-blown affair with some form of visual presentation, delivered to a board of directors. However, the goal is always the same — to get the sale.
Questions Sales People Should Ask Themselves (Part I)
Sales can be a little like learning to drive. While learning, we do everything according to the book, but once we pass the driver’s test, we take short cuts and adopt bad habits.
When is a Niche Market a Mass Market?
I don’t usually start my column with a riddle, but it seems appropriate for the topic of marketing and selling to baby boomers.
Achieving Your Business Goals
Most of us don’t keep our New Year’s resolutions past the end of January. But this year, I am really going to make an effort to keep the ones I make for my business life.
Increasing Your Global Perspective
The world is changing and global events can have an effect on our small enterprise. How can we be proactive, stay ahead of the game, and create new business opportunities in this changing world?
Increasing Your Global Perspective: Growing Your Business in Changing Times
Anyone who became qualified in their field 20 years ago — and has not evolved through education — is superbly equipped for a society that no longer exists.
–Robert Jastrow
Going Grid Positive
There are probably as many definitions of eco-marketing as there are people talking about it. I am pretty down to earth when it comes to sales and marketing. I like simple, honest concepts that work for small businesses.
Things You Should Know Before Hiring a Salesperson
I hired my first commission-only sales team some 20-odd years ago with the misguided belief that it would be easy.
Marketing for Newbies
The two biggest mistakes new business owners make is either to spend too much or too little on marketing their new business.
10 Strategies for Selling in an Economic Downturn
Okay, so we’re in fiscally challenged times, but how it affects you as a business owner or salesperson depends more on how you handle yourself during these difficult times, than the economic circumstances you find yourself in.
Small-Business Branding with a Difference
There’s a lot of talk about branding and its importance to the success of a company or an organization. But what is branding really?
Falling in Love with Objections
Many sales people make selling more difficult than it needs to be by wasting valuable sales time on prospects who clearly have no intention of buying. This dogged determination is often a result of a fear of rejection.
Reactive Marketing vs Interactive Selling
What is the difference between sales and marketing? Nothing, if you believe the many North American business people who seem to use the terms interchangeably.
Corporate Storytelling
Building an enduring business reputation by capturing and telling your stories.
How can you compete?
If you’re a small or medium-sized firm, how do you survive in today’s hyper-competitive environment?
How to Prepare a Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is like a road map. You need one to see where you’re going and what progress you’re making. If you don’t know where you are, or where you’re going, any road will take you there.
The Key Problem in Web Marketing...
There are many specific challenges and concerns in web marketing, but there is one key problem they all come down to: not enough sales.
Targeting your Customers
If you’re a local entrepreneur getting ready to improve or start up your own business, there is one word you need to know above all others: WHO.
Gold in the Grey
Are you missing the greatest single source of buying power in all of Canada? It’s right under your nose.